A substitute teacher from Cedar Hill School in New Jersey, United States received criticism after telling first grade students that Santa Claus is not real. Lisa Simek, one of the students’ parents, took to social media recently where she aired out her grievances over the teacher’s action.

As per Simek, the teacher was in her 6-year-old daughter Emilia’s class where she asked the students which holiday was coming up before “completely” unleashing on them.

“She told them Santa isn’t real and parents just buy presents and put them under their tree. She told them reindeer can’t fly and elves are not real…” Simek wrote on Facebook on Nov. 30. “The tooth fairy is not real because mom or dad just sneak into your room in the middle of the night and put money under your pillow, same goes for Easter bunny.”

Simek added that the teacher told the children “magic does not exist” and “there is no such thing as magic anything.”

“A grown woman tried to crush our six-year-old‘s spirit, along with the spirits of the other 22 kids in CH’s 1st Grade class,” the mom pointed out.

She added that many of the parents have been doing damage control since the children returned home from school and wished, “Praying for a Christmas Magic miracle to keep these kids believers for as long as possible.”

Despite the teacher’s action, however, Simek asked people to refrain from bashing her, saying they must all learn from the situation and that Christmas magic is indeed real.

“Christmas magic is real and shown through acts of kindness, love, positivity and grace for/from loved ones as well as strangers,” she appealed. “Just be kind. When in doubt, always choose being kind, and you will always be in the right.”

Meanwhile, Cedar High School principal Michael Raj apologized to the parents regarding the teacher’s action via a letter. Raj, as per WKRG on Dec. 2, sympathized with the parents, saying he was aware of the sensitive nature of the announcement as he is a parent himself.

“I am sending this letter so that you are aware of the situation,” Raj said in the report. “If the conversation comes up at home over the next few days you can take appropriate steps to maintain the childhood innocence of the holiday season.”

As of this writing, it still remains uncertain whether the teacher would continue teaching in the district. Cody Cepeda/JB